Been listening to this one a lot lately, so here comes another spotlight on the ever-shifting landscape of 1970s Weather Report. Percussion-heavy, with plenty of groove to spare, the album kicks off with the bright melodic title track, bass handled by Alphonso Johnson as is the case for most of the album. Not so for the track that follows, though - here comes the first entry of one of the group's most auspicious arrivals, with the slippery basslines of a 24-year old Floridian who had introduced himself to Zawinul as "the greatest bass player in the world".
There's only one other Pastorious performance on this transitional (even by their standards) Weather Report album, the strutting Barbary Coast from his own pen. Otherwise, Zawinul and Shorter turn in an increasingly slick set of funky numbers influenced by Latin and African rhythms, some more atmospheric pieces and generally set the stage for Weather Report's commercial superstardom that would follow within a year.
pw: sgtg
Good observation about Jaco...these two tracks were his appearance to the wider world, and he was about to blow the minds of bass players everywhere. I had forgotten that the song "Cannon Ball" was so melodic, and expressive, and it was such a unique sound that I don't think I even recognized it was a bass player. "Barbary Coast" showed his ability to hold down a funky rhyhm section in a way nobody had heard before, and again, there's great subtlety of expression in his amazing technique. (His solo album JACO, which started with the amazing version of Charlie Parker's Donna Lee, would follow a few months later. And then there was no doubt that he had changed the role of the instrument forever.)
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